- Speaker #0
to mature allure where we highlight the experiences and perspectives of women in midlife as well as talk about all of the things we can relate to as to not you know so we can look forward to aging not so much fear it today's guest is angela duncan of you empower her money, which I love that because I don't have a lot of money, but I want to be able to power it. But anyway, Angela, hi, welcome to Mature Allure.
- Speaker #1
Thank you so much for having me today.
- Speaker #0
Yeah. Thank you for joining us. Let's start by you telling us a little bit about yourself.
- Speaker #1
Certainly. So I am a survivor of childhood abuse and poverty. And so what that means is I didn't know anything about money as a kid. I wasn't taught the great things about money as a kid. And so when I was 18 and moved out of that situation, I started a very long journey to learn more about money. And I've learned a lot, but it hasn't all been roses. So we can talk more about the ups and downs and kind of where I'm at today.
- Speaker #0
I actually, it's good to talk to someone like you who, like you said, you haven't come from money because a lot of times, especially in midlife, the money that we may have saved, we've been using it for whatever reason, maybe things have happened that have, you know, kind of kept our money from growing. How would you, how do you go about looking at what you have currently? finance. And how do you build upon that? If you're in midlife and you're really kind of living paycheck to paycheck, what's your first advice?
- Speaker #1
Yeah. So first advice is to figure out what your financial foundation looks like. And what that means when I teach people is how much money are you making? What are your real expenses and what can we cut out? And then how much do you have leftover to figure out what are your financial goals and how do we use that leftover money to help you accomplish those goals? So it's so important. and I've heard this analogy quite often, is if you open your GPS and you know what your goals are, where you want to be, your destination, but you can't figure out where you're at today, then there's no plan in place, right? So it's so important for you to figure out what does your financial house look like today before we start planning for your future.
- Speaker #0
Well, let's talk first a little bit about Empower Her Money. Tell us about your services. I know you have a podcast and you're a speaker. So just give us kind of an overview about your business.
- Speaker #1
Yeah, I would love to. So early on, I thought I wanted to be a stockbroker on Wall Street. That didn't work out. So then I switched to real estate right before that bubble burst. And so I was in real estate for a long time and I've learned a lot about real estate investing. And about a year ago, I launched a podcast, which we talk about money on my podcast. And so I really wanted to have an avenue for people to be able to invest what they're learning about. And so that's what I do today is I do help people with their passive investment opportunities. But I still talk a lot about money because I think it's so important, especially for us women, to understand what money is, how we use it as a tool and kind of take away that emotional piece of it so that we can create wealth and income for our families.
- Speaker #0
Well, a lot of us are at a point where either we have some investments or maybe we have, we don't have any, but we all think about, you mentioned real estate. Everybody talks about real estate, real estate, and real estate is an investment. I mean, even you purchasing your home is an investment. What are your suggestions for people, for women who might be thinking about real estate from an income standpoint? Like, cause that can be really tricky.
- Speaker #1
It can be. And there's so many different ways that you can invest in real estate, right? So most people know like you can buy a house, you can rent it out, and it's providing some type of income. But the biggest struggle with that is if your tenant moves out, you're 100% vacant, which means you're 100% responsible for bills without income. So I like to look at other avenues, you know, so whether that is, you know, going in and buying a bill, like a bigger building is potentially possible. Where I focus and kind of where I teach is tax liens. And that has been a great avenue for a lot of people who are just too busy to do research or figure things out on their own. You know, you really want to get with a professional, a mentor or a coach and learn about the different opportunities. Learn about what kind of investor are you? Are you more of a conservative investor? You don't want to take risk or maybe you want to be riskier. As we age, we tend not to be as risky with our money because who knows how long we've got. Right. So I like giving conservative options to people so that they can hopefully continue their work or their business, set some money aside for the future and know that it might be a little bit safer than the riskier investments, such as like a single family house.
- Speaker #0
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I brought that up because I'm actually thinking about it. So that's why I brought it up. But let's get back to what you do as far as like on your podcast and speaking and. you know, on your website, you really talk. about changing your financial future. and how do we do that? Like, where do you begin? How do you do it? I mean, we're all beginning at different stages in life, but just kind of give us an overview for a couple of different stages, like how you change your financial future.
- Speaker #1
Yeah. So two things, there's the inventory of what is, you know, tangible. Like we talked about what's your income, what your expenses, what are you currently invest in? Those are all tangible items. And when you have a very clear picture of what that looks like. your brain is aware now, right? Because so many times, like people don't check their bank statements or their credit card statements. Well, how do you know what your real expenses are if you're not looking at what you're spending, right? So have a very clear picture of the tangible part of where you're currently at today. Then I also talk about mindset because even as we age, we're still dragging things from our childhood that we were taught that are not our truth today. but they're still there subconsciously. Like I don't need more money or I'm not going to make more money. Well, none of that gets true. You can obviously change that about your life, but until you become aware of what you're thinking about, we can't break through that and figure out real tangible ways for you to create that income. Right. And so that could be whether or not if you're working in a job, maybe you need to invest in some education to get a raise in order to move to a different position. Or if you're a business owner thinking about your client base. How else can you serve them? Or maybe you need to charge more. I know that's very difficult for us women. We don't like to charge more, but if you really truly want to create and achieve your financial goals, we've got to figure out a way to bring some more money in. I'm more of the abundance mindset, meaning let's create more income versus let's cut out your expenses. I do. you've got to control your expenses. But if we focus on making more money, then that's just so much easier for us. And it sits with us so much better than depriving ourselves or cutting out expenses. It's such a negative thought. So creating income is more of a positive thought. And I like to live in the positive.
- Speaker #0
You know, it's interesting. You said something that really was interesting. You said invest in education so that you can get a raise. I think I guess I really hadn't thought about that. And a lot of people don't think about that. You get to a certain point in your life where you are in midlife. You maybe are kind of very professional in what you do, but there's always ways to increase that knowledge so that, like you said, you can make money from it or make more money from it. or even a hobby. Because I know I've talked to a few people who, you know, they're photographers, but these are side gigs that they're moving into a more professional space, but they invested the money into themselves so they can bring in some more income. So that's really, really interesting. Tell us a little bit more about your services overall. And if you have any speaking engagements coming up, just tell us a little bit more about you.
- Speaker #1
Yeah, absolutely. So I'm in Miami. I do travel to speak, but I have an event coming up in July that we're just putting all of the details on. So I'm excited about that because really where my focus is, is on women. So I'm going to events that primarily, you know, the attendees are women or women business owners, because you guys get so busy in like the weeds of your business that you just pile money and you don't take the time to really make that money work super hard for you. which is so important because you're working hard for that money. We want the money to work for you too. So you asked about the speaking engagement is coming up in July. I've got a couple more things later on this year. I have an article coming out in success magazine later this year, which I'm really excited about. I've been a fan of that company forever, but I'm just looking for different ways to reach women. And that's why podcasting is so amazing because someone can watch this for free. So when I say. best in yourself. It doesn't have to cost money. You can go on YouTube and you know, if you have, like you were talking about, um, a side job, right? If you have an interest that you want to take your hobby and make some money of it and have some fun, well, take the time to educate a little bit more so that you can add value to your clients, right? So YouTube podcasting, great opportunities there. And yes, empower her money podcast, just like you. I'm sure Sherry. I love interviewing people. sharing their stories and having them teach you something different from their experience. That way we can just, you know, help more people learn more and figure out what is it that you need at this moment. And, you know, people come to me on Instagram and they ask me money questions. I love doing videos for them. So it's just, this is my passion. I want to teach more people about money because there really is no reason for us to live in poverty because we can and should. change that for just us, for our family, and for the generations in front of you?
- Speaker #0
Well, like you brought up, just changing it sometimes can be the hard part. you know, especially when you're stuck in something where you might have kids in college or kids going to college or even small kids and your paycheck isn't really stretching that far. It covers the basics. What are your suggestions for women who are in those situations who want to increase their wealth or grow their money, but really just don't know what to do? Like, how do they do that?
- Speaker #1
Yeah. So once you're aware of your income and your expenses, let's think about this. You know, I'm in Miami. Miami is super expensive to live. So if your job allows you to move somewhere else, maybe it's a national company or your profession is in need somewhere else, then look at perhaps moving. That way you can cut back your monthly expenses a little bit to help you get out of debt or save for a house or plan for the future. And you just mentioned kids in college. I know it's very hard for us moms to understand this, but your kid can get a loan for college. You cannot get a loan for retirement. So if you haven't fully funded your retirement account, do not save for your kid's college. And I know I get backlash a lot for that because we just want to help our kids, but I would prefer them to get a loan and understand what the value of a dollar is and how hard it is for them to pay that back. then for them to have to support me someday and for me to live in their house and be a burden on them because I did not plan properly. So really thinking about, you know, even as like an empty nester, I find ways to help my daughter, but I also find ways to teach her about money. That way, I don't want to be a burden on her. And it's not selfish of me to put money to my retirement at all. It's taking care of myself first is a very unselfish act so that she doesn't have to take care of me later.
- Speaker #0
Wow. I love how you said that. Yes, it was shocking, but like you said, I mean, it makes perfect sense, especially, I mean, we remember when we were younger, we just kind of had to make it work and we got loans and we got credit cards. We got, you know, and all of the things that happen where you have these credit cards, everybody's throwing them at you when you were in college. And then all of a sudden you've got debt and you just don't really know what to do with it. Whereas this could be a way of training and teaching your child about. money. Like you said, I love that. Let's see. Ooh, I love when I have people on talking about money because that's always so scary. Now, what about, you mentioned retirement. I think we all dream about not necessarily retiring because a lot of people, you know, I feel like I'm going to just be working because I like to work. I like to do what I do, but how do you make now at this point in midlife, if you're not retired, how do you prepare for that retirement? What do you do other than you might have a 401k or you might have some money in savings? How do you think about that money? So it stretches, especially since a lot of us are living a lot longer too. That's a whole other.
- Speaker #1
Right. So if you have investments, definitely speak with your financial advisor, making sure that the investments are properly diversified in your timeframe. Meaning, you know, the older we get, the more conservative we want. We don't necessarily want to be super risky because we don't have the time to ride the market up and down. Now, still be risky with part of it. That's important. But, you know, talking to the financial advisor and also you want to talk to a financial advisor who's super savvy on social security. because then they can help you understand if you take it at this age, expect this amount per month. If you take it at this age, you know, the longer we wait, the higher that amount goes up. But that only makes sense if you have another source of income. So really getting that clear picture and asking those difficult questions to your financial advisor is key. And then thinking about, you know, if you do retire someday, are you going to work part time or you're not going to work at all? What are your expenses going to look like? Most likely they're going to be at the same or above what you are now, because when you have more free time, we spend more money, right? Maybe we want to travel a little bit. So really thinking about what does retirement look for you and budget accordingly. And then you back into where am I at today? How much do I have? Where's that shortfall? And am I going to decrease my expenses later? Or am I going to, you know, find that side hustle? or ask for that raise or, you know, charge more of my business. So I'm creating more income now so that I'm okay when I retire at that time in my life that I think I'm going to retire.
- Speaker #0
You brought up financial advisor. That, let me just say, I don't know a lot of people who have them. I mean, you just kind of guess. What are the advantages to having a financial advisor? some of them won't even take you on unless you have a certain amount of money. But what are the advantages of having a financial advisor? And what if you can't afford a financial advisor? Is that a thing? Are there people out there that will help you for minimal amount?
- Speaker #1
I was going to say, I think you can not afford to have a financial advisor, but I understand there's minimum amounts. And if there are minimum amounts and you're not there, then you really have some serious planning to do. A financial advisor is just like a coach. I've had coaches my entire life. If anyone played sports as a kid, you had a coach. That coach is there to study that craft and teach you so that you have a shorter learning curve. You don't have to learn everything about stock market. You don't have to learn everything about social security. You don't have to learn everything about the different investments. But when you have a coach or a mentor on your side that's studying that all the time, that you need to be able to make room for in your life because if you don't have someone advising you and you're trying to just steer this by yourself, you might run out of money someday. And that's a very scary thought. So I would much rather have someone on my side. And if you can't necessarily afford someone or you don't have enough to invest with them, look at financial clubs, go to free webinars. Most of my financial advisors, I know they put them on all the time. And while it doesn't go in depth to your own situation, it's at least giving you some overview of what you need to be thinking about when you're looking forward towards retirement. And then they start speaking language, which you become familiar with. You learn about it. Maybe you go home and listen to a podcast on a certain subject. So it helps you become more educated. and hopefully, you know, you can take that education, implement it into your current life and plan out ahead for that retirement. And then maybe you get to a level where you can hire that person because they've given you so much free information.
- Speaker #0
So how do you go about finding a financial planner? Like what are some of the key questions you should keep in mind when speaking to, you know, looking for one and what are the things that they should offer?
- Speaker #1
Yeah. So first, how do I find one? I'm asking people in my world, and it could be a boss, it could be a mentor, could be someone within a networking group that looks like perhaps they're doing something successfully and you just start asking them questions. Ask people, who do you use for your financial advisor? Who do you ask for financial advice from? And when you meet with them, you want to know what kind of advisor they are. They're going to want to ask you most of the questions, but jump in and ask because if you're a conservative investor, you want someone who is a conservative advisor, meaning they're going to take less risk because that's the type of client that you are, but maybe that's their focus, right? And so like for me, I'm a real estate investor. So the mentors in my world all invest in real estate because that's where I want to invest. Another question you want to ask them, you know, how long have you been in the business? How do you get paid? Because they're either receiving, you know, a commission or they're or they're receiving a percentage of what you have invested in them. So it's important for you to understand the difference in that. The reason why one is better than the other is because the more money they make for you, the more money they get paid, which incentivizes them. So I think that that's key for you to look at. And also you want to ask for references and you can Google them. I mean, I know when I Google certain people, we are more likely to put a negative review online than a positive one. So if there's something negative about them, it's out there. And if you do a Google search by their name, most likely you're going to find it. So understanding where they're coming from, what kind of, you know, advice that they give, check the references and ask for other happy clients so that you can have conversations with them, do a background check via Google and see what information is out there. And obviously I want someone who's been in the business for a while. I also ask them. What kind of education do you do now and going forward? Because if they got their license and they're not doing education, then that's a red flag for me because I want someone who's continually working on themselves and being the best advisor they can be by absorbing new information, watching the markets, listening to whatever it is that they need to listen to in order for them to be a better advisor for you. That's important for me. They have to be continuing their education.
- Speaker #0
So for you, how did you, I know, like we mentioned earlier, you didn't come from money. I know a little bit about your story. It's online on your website. What motivate you to choose money as your path? You know what I mean? Everybody chooses a path when they're very young. And what made it motivated you to choose money? And how did you go about just, I don't want to say making that happen. But what were some pitfalls? initially that kind of turned you around and got you back on path, if you know if that makes sense.
- Speaker #1
Yeah, absolutely. So I think when you grow up without money, for me, I always thought money was the answer. As a kid, getting free lunch or going to a charity to get Christmas gifts or getting the kids to make, or they were making fun of me because I didn't have new clothes. Those were all pain points for me as a kid. So I remember what that feels like. It's an awful feeling, right? And so I thought if I had money... then all of those problems would go away, which we know is not true. But that started my journey. And I really wanted to learn more about money. And so for me, I always sought out other people and asked tons of questions. You know, my first career, I worked for a bank in the financial advisor industry. And I found women that were in the industry longer and ask them questions like, how do you do business? You know, what is it that you study? What's important for clients to know? And I come from contribution as well. So that if I'm asking someone questions, I'm asking for their time. I'm very cautious not to ask for too much time, but finding different mentors to ask those questions to just helps build my knowledge. And, you know, one of my first investing stories I'll tell you before I sought out real advice is I walked into a bank and I had like a hundred dollars, which was a lot of money to an 18 year old at the time. And I asked, how do I invest this? And the nice lady handed me a brochure. it was for a mutual fund and sent me on my way, right? I invested that $100 and I lost $20. And it wasn't the first time in my life I've lost money. But what I learned from that is that I needed to become a student and I needed to find someone else that could teach me about money and about investing. And so that was a very early lesson for me to lose 20% of my investment. But Now I understand that I'm going to seek out a professional. I'm going to find a better way to invest my money, but understanding what kind of investor I am as well.
- Speaker #0
for those women out there who like yourself, they have investments, they kind of know how to make their money work. They've worked with financial planners and work, continue to work with them and are looking at maybe money being their side project. You know, what suggestions do you have for them to move into that industry? If they're, if that's something they're interested in moving into.
- Speaker #1
Yeah. So specifically I help clients invest in tax liens. And so for me, I wanted to find an avenue, not only that it helps create income for me, but that I'm impacting other people. I want to change other people's lives. And I think when you get into the money field, it's very easy for some people to go down a bad path where we call just like product popping, right? You're just selling stuff to sell stuff because you want an income. That's not my goal. and I definitely don't encourage that at all. If you're going to get into this field, pick a lane, become really knowledgeable about that lane, but come from contribution. You want to truly impact people's lives. So it's not just about investing for my clients, but I'm teaching them. I'm connecting them with a tax strategist so that we can help keep more of that money. I'm teaching them about other investment opportunities so that we can diversify and not keep everything just in one place. but I really truly want to put the client first. I want to know what their goals are. I want to know what kind of investor they are. I want to be able to celebrate some of the wins with them because that's really fun and amazing. And then I challenge them to teach other people, whether they're going to refer to me or take the time to teach other people because I want to impact one life, but that one life can impact hundreds, right? And so it's really important for me that if you're getting into this field, that you get into it for the right reasons, which is not making money for yourself. but helping other people change their lives and generations in front of them.
- Speaker #0
So since we are a show for women in midlife, I often like to ask my guests, what do they wish for themselves at this point in their life? You know, you've been through a lot, but then, you know, there's a lot more to go and experience. What do you wish for yourself in midlife at this point?
- Speaker #1
Yeah, I think there was a book that I had read and it talked about like they interviewed people that were, you know, dying. Right. And asked, what's one thing that you wish you would have done? and most common answers were live life more, volunteer more, give more, travel more. So making sure that all of those are budget items in your, you know, line items in your current budget, so key because tomorrow's not promised. I'm here today and I do my best to take care of my health, but I don't want to have that kind of wish. I want to be, you know, those last days for me saying I gave everything I could. So volunteering. giving back to my church, traveling the world, if that's something that's important to you, making sure that you're living today. but also planning for tomorrow.
- Speaker #0
And the interesting thing about that is in midlife, that's the point where all of those things seem possible. You know, when you're younger, it's like, oh, I really want to travel or you're wishful. But in midlife. children are out of the house. Usually money is at a point where, you know, you can do those things. So I like that advice, basically set yourself up so that you can do that. Cause midlife has a span, you know, I say 40. as you know, that's my number where it begins, but I mean, it can go on. You can live until whenever, you know? So, um, I do appreciate you being here, Angela, if you can kind of give an overview of how people can get in contact with you, I'm going to put it in the description, but just kind of share with people how they can get in contact with you. That'd be great.
- Speaker #1
Yeah. And if it's okay, I have a freebie. I would love to help out your audience as well. One of the things I talked about was figuring out what kind of investor you are. So important before you determine what you're going to invest in. And so I've created a fun quiz for you to take. If you reach out to me on Instagram, empower her money and just type in the word quiz in my messages, I'll make sure they get that link so that they can figure out what kind of investor they are. But yes, empower her money on Instagram and TikTok. My podcast is called empower her money. I would love to connect and answer any money questions you have.
- Speaker #0
Thank you so much for being here, Angela. And I want to have you back, kind of just do a check, especially if I start my real estate investing, just kind of giving you, we can kind of talk about the, give an overview of what's happening, what I'm doing right, what I'm doing wrong. So that would be great. Thanks again for being here.
- Speaker #1
Thank you.
- Speaker #0
You're listening to the Mature Allure Podcast. I'm your host, Sherri O. If you have a topic in mind that you'd like us to cover on Mature Allure, drop us a note in the comments or share it with us on one of our social media channels. Until the next time, remember, self-love is the key to unlocking the radiant allure that shines from within.
